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My smile melted. “Nothing. I just…” What I knew, he’d never know. There was no way I could tell him that one of the slaves who’d been there long before me went through a birth not weeks before I had been physically removed. How she thought she’d hate the baby because of who it was from, but loved it at first sight. Or how I almost…
“It’s just what I hear. Your fatherly instincts will kick in and things will play out just as they’re supposed to.”
“Didn’t work out for ours so much.” His eyebrow cocked and I rolled my eyes.
“He’s the exception. You’re nothing like our father.”
More typing. “No, I’m not. I’ll love my children. They’ll always be protected.”
“I believe that.” And I did. Slade was as ruthless as he was possessive. But he cherished what was his. Mary was loved by him more than I could put into words. It made me miss that feeling. I once felt protected. Cared for.
“Shit,” Slade said, under his breath. “Where in the hell did I put those documents?”
My head shook as I neared. “Probably in your computer. My folders are set up differently than yours and it’s not like we share the same ones, anyway.”
“My computer?” Slade looked around, as if seeing the room he was in for the first time. “This is my old office.”
“Yes,” I breathed out. “I took it over last year before you left. You,” I said, pointing toward the door, “are three rooms over, corner office. You said you liked the view better, remember?”
He stood. “I’m sorry, Lily. I’m not in my right mind today. Things have been…crazy lately.”
“You never even came back after you passed over the reins here. I’m the one in complete control. What is it you’re looking for? Maybe I can help.”
A twitch in his cheek flashed only a second before he rounded the desk. My heart exploded as I followed him to the roses.
“You have a boyfriend?” The glance he threw me had me nearly stumbling. I knew the rules. Or, the rule. Slade made me promise when he left me his penthouse and set me up with a job that I’d inform him when I decided to date. I knew he wanted to run a full check. Make sure I wasn’t dating a psycho or some deadbeat.
“I’m not seeing anyone. I don’t even know who those are from.”
The look he threw me was full of uncertainty. “Let’s see, then.” He grabbed the card, inspecting the envelope before he handed it over. “Open it. Let’s see who has an interest in my little sister.”
There was a playfulness there, but I knew better than to buy into the act he was projecting. In his eyes, my abduction and everything that had come along with it was his fault. He was still trying to make up for the damage he believed he caused by his absence—the penthouse, the job, a bank account with a small fortune in it. I knew he believed I wouldn’t have been taken if he had been keeping a better eye on me, but that’s where our opinions differed. We were both stubborn. I would have helped the girl who I now knew as Mary’s sister, Bethany, regardless. Being sold into sex slavery was no one’s fault but mine and the ones responsible for my abduction. All of them were dead, but two. Bethany and her husband. As for the ones who bought me, I knew I was powerless to put an end to their lives. I wasn’t even sure where to begin looking, aside from the country itself.
“Go on,” he said, leaning forward.
“I’m going, jeez.” My hand shook as I broke the seal. Anxiety surged and I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous. It’s not like I knew the person. I never went out anywhere. Not even shopping for groceries. They were delivered like everything else I wanted or needed.
I pressed my lips together as I pulled out the small card. The one word had me crumbling it in my hand before my brother could see.
“Well?” Slade’s head cocked to the side. “What did it say?”
“Nothing.” I forced a smile and stepped back, clenching my fist even tighter. At his step forward, I could so easily see the brother in front of me and not the boss. He’d try to get that card any way he could and I had every intention of trying my best not to let that happen.
“Lily, let me see it.”
My head shook and I felt the pins holding my hair up, loosen. “No. It’s gibberish, really.”
“Lily.” The way his tone deepened, I knew this was my last chance before he’d physically remove it from my hand. Fuck, I hated how overbearing he was at times. But I couldn’t deny how much he’d helped me. Hell, continued to help. I was safe because of my brother. Back here…because of him. Would he understand what the card said?
No. Even as I watched him take another step, I knew my guilt was making me overreact. Besides, maybe I was misunderstanding the meaning.
“Fine. Here.” The small ball of paper that sat in my palm was picked up and unfolded. As I watched my brother concentrate, I knew he was trying like hell to decipher the same message I had.
Red. It could be the color of the flowers. Passion. The code word for when I wanted the pain to cease. No. That was ridiculous. Zain was history. He didn’t exist anymore. What we had died in Afghanistan and all the memories I carried over were forbidden to resurface here. He was the enemy. He’d brainwashed me into thinking I loved him. And I had allowed it.
“You want to explain?” Slade asked the question, but his attention was focused on the card.
“Color of the flowers? It would make sense. They’re usually white.”
